Ilya Sorokin looks like stellar self in return as Islanders top Avalanche for seasons first win

DENVER — A night that was about the two goalies the Islanders have invested their hopes in ended in triumph for both.A victory for Patrick Roy in his return to Colorado.A victory for Ilya Sorokin in his return to the crease.And a much-needed victory for the Islanders, who avoided a third straight loss to open the season and will head to St.Louis at NHL .500 (1-1-1) after a 6-2 win over the Avalanche on Monday night at Ball Arena.Not too bad for a night’s work.Sorokin, for all the worry about his physical health and how the way last season ended might have affected him mentally, looked just fine from the first shot of the night — a Nathan MacKinnon wrister he turned aside easily — onward.Playing behind a defense that was quietly a bright spot through those first two games, Sorokin looked unfazed and was his usual unrelenting self, stopping 32 shots and turning in a highlight-reel save on John Ludvig’s second-period chance, splaying both legs out to stop the puck with his left pad.More than anything else that’s happened through the first nine periods of this season, that is — by some margin — the most important for the Islanders’ chances of contending.This was, though, not a night when the Islanders needed their goalie to bail them out all too much.Aside from the first five minutes or so, during which Colorado built up a 6-1 shot advantage, the Islanders had the better of the home side.All four lines appeared at ease with each other after the first two games were marked by fits and starts.

The Islanders played sound 200-foot hockey, cycling the puck with ease on one end and keeping Colorado away from the middle of the ice on the other, making things easy for Sorokin in turn — at least until a late onslaught with the Islanders holding a three-goal lead.Brock Nelson, who uncharacteristically had yet to score coming into the night, got on the scoresheet twice within three minutes during the second period, first by mugging Cale Makar and finishing a o...